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Columbus BikeShare System to Launch in 2013 Published on November 2, 2012 10:10 am By: Walker

Next summer, Columbus will see the launch of its first bike share network with over 300 bikes parked at 30 locations in Downtown and nearby neighborhoods. Users of the system will be able to visit any of the stations, borrow a bike to ride and return it to any of the stations.

“BikeShare is a low-cost, 24-hour transit system,” said Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman. “We’ve taken big steps toward making Columbus one of the best biking cities in the nation, and I’m excited to add bike sharing to the mix.”

City of Columbus Seeks Input on Bike Share System For immediate release February 15, 2013

The City of Columbus is seeking public input into the design and name for the cutting-edge bike share system announced in November by Mayor Michael B. Coleman. “The success of the bike share system will depend upon community support,” Mayor Coleman said. “Therefore we will need community input in order to make it convenient and useful for our residents.”

By visiting the Department of Recreation and Parks website at http://parks.columbus.gov/ColumbusBikeShareProgram.aspx users can suggest up to five locations where they believe bike share kiosks would be most successful. Suggested locations are submitted by placing pins on an electronic map within the city’s Downtown core under consideration for the project. Pins placed outside of the proposed project area will be filed and used to inform a possible system expansion in the future.

Suggested locations will be reviewed by the city and its contractors taking into consideration practical siting criteria such as space requirements, visibility clearance and more. A final plan for proposed station locations is expected to be complete in March with installation to begin during the summer of this year.

Additionally, the website serves as a place to gather creative suggestions for the official name and color scheme of the bike share system. The person who submits the best system name will win a free program membership for a year. System names used in other cities include: Nice Ride Minnesota (Minneapolis), CitiBikes (New York City), Capital Bikeshare (Washington, D.C.) and The Hubway (Boston).

Submissions for both station locations and names will be accepted until midnight on February 29.

The city has invested $2,268,550 in the Bike Share system which will be comprised of a network of 300 bikes at 30 Downtown locations, enabling users to visit any station to borrow a bike, ride for any amount of time and return the bike at any of the 30 stations. Ongoing program support will be generated by corporate sponsorships and membership sales.

As the city of Columbus prepares to implement a bicycle-sharing program downtown this summer, it will do so without the usually required consent of architectural review commissions in historic districts.

The city says that, as a courtesy, it will share the specifications with the appropriate commissions, which will then share their recommendations with the city’s Recreation and Parks Department.

CoGo Bike Share Coming to Columbus this Summer Name and Branding Elements Selected through Community Outreach Contest

CoGo Bike Share will be the name of the Columbus, Ohio bicycle sharing system scheduled to launch this summer in coordination with the selected contractor, Alta Bicycle Share. The City of Columbus congratulates Benjamin Coifman for submitting the winning name during an online contest hosted by the Columbus Recreation and Parks.

“Officially naming our city’s bike share system is a fun milestone in a project that is progressing rapidly,” said Mayor Michael B. Coleman. “Station locations are being assessed, pricing structures are being calculated and, soon enough, program memberships will be on sale.”

Coifman’s submission was selected from nearly 200 entries and he has been awarded a CoGo Bike Share Annual Membership. CoGo Bike Share will consist of a network of 300 bicycles and 30 stations located throughout downtown Columbus. The system enables users to purchase access and unlock bikes for short, quick trips. Bikes may be returned to any station within the network. Ongoing program support will be generated by sponsorships and membership sales.

Bicycles will be black with the COGO and City of Columbus logos displayed on the frame. Red panels on the front basket and rear fender will be reserved to feature sponsor logos.

“CoGo is a name Alta is proud to add to its portfolio of bike share systems operating in cities across the United States,” said Heather Bowden, CoGo Bike Share Manager. “System names used in other cities include: Nice Ride Minnesota in Minneapolis, Citi Bike in New York City, Capital Bikeshare in Washington, D.C. and Hubway in Boston.”

300 bikes for $2.2 million. That is over $7,500 per bike. Wow. Okay, I know that much of the money will be spent on the kiosks and the hardware related to storing and renting out the bikes. Still, this is not cheap. I wonder how much these bikes will get used. We should be able to tell from the amount of revenue generated. How much revenue do they need to generate in order to be considered a success?